FOLLOWING a public hearing last week Wednesday, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has issued an order granting the necessary approval for a five per cent reduction in the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) water tariff, retroactive to March 4.
In the order signed by Chairperson, Dela Britton, the PUC noted that notwithstanding the loss of revenue that would be incurred by the reduction, it is convinced that the utility company will have enough inflow by other means to buoy it up.
“The procurement of 42,000 meters and its imminent rollout by the last quarter in 2021, will greatly aid in this regard. Lastly, commitments from various funding agencies, including the Government of Guyana to facilitate its investment activities has influenced the commission’s favourable position in granting the application and the GWI is to be commended for its efforts,” the order stated.

In keeping with the government’s promise in the 2021 National Budget to reduce the water rate, GWI, on April 13, had filed an application with the PUC for the 5 per cent reduction on the water charges, as is required by law. A public meeting was subsequently held, virtually, via Zoom, on April 28. At the meeting, the PUC was led by Britton, while the GWI presentations were headed by its Managing Director, Shaik Baksh.
The move was supported by the President of the Guyana Consumer’s Association (GCA), Pat Dial, who had joined the virtual meeting by telephone.
The hearing was held to ascertain the feasibility of the reduction and to assess the financial impact it would have on the development and operational activities of the company. According to the order, the company stands to lose approximately $202 million per year as a result of the reduction.

However, the company’s officials contended that several key programmes in its 2021 – 2025 strategic plan would assist the company in addressing its revenue loss.
“This includes access to water, leakage management, level of service, treatment plants, rehabilitation of the Georgetown networks, the reduction on non-revenue water and the rollout of a metering programme,” the order noted. The aforementioned projects are expected to be funded by the government and by loan.
The utility company has also pledged that the implementation of the reduction would not have any adverse effect on the accuracy of its billing system. It noted that it will be implementing a number of strategies to address revenue collection, as the disconnection of defaulting consumers had ceased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, GWI pointed to assistance recently received from the government to substantially settle its outstanding debt to the Guyana Power and Light.